Science Instructors Ask: Can You Teach Students at a Distance How to Use Microscopes?

By SARAH CARR

Thomas M. Lancraft, an assistant professor in the department of
natural sciences at Florida's St. Petersburg Junior College, was
hesitant when he was asked to create an online laboratory for an
introductory-biology course for nonmajors that he teaches. He
wondered how he could teach the hands-on aspects of biology, such
as using a microscope, from afar.

In the course that Mr. Lancraft eventually created, students are
mailed a package of materials and expected